Softball Sweeps Northwestern State in Fall Brawl I (Exhibition Games)

[pmull]

Alabama opens exhibition schedule with a pair of wins. These girls just keep on winning.

The Alabama softball team opened up its 2012 fall season with a pair of victories over Northwestern State in Fall Brawl I on Saturday afternoon at Rhoads Stadium. The Crimson Tide knocked off the Lady Demons in game one, 10-4, behind five RBI from senior Kayla Braud. UA then followed up with a 5-0 win in game two.

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[SUPERCOACH]

This is a great time to be a Bama fan.  We have football on top of the world to follow in the fall, basketball is on a fast rise for our winter viewing pleasure, and then we have the national champion softball team to follow in the spring.  And don't forget about the ladies golf and gymnastics teams.

[pmull]

This is a great time to be a Bama fan.  We have football on top of the world to follow in the fall, basketball is on a fast rise for our winter viewing pleasure, and then we have the national champion softball team to follow in the spring.  And don't forget about the ladies golf and gymnastics teams.

We need to get our baseball and women's basketball programs up to speed. The other programs are in great shape.

[Jamos]

I attended the games this weekend and it seems that Patrick Murphy has done what a couple of other successful coaches at Bama has done, he reloaded his team. They lost some very good players to graduation this year, but this recruiting class looks to be something special.

JTrain and Jury did the pitching and nothing has changed with JTrain. Jury pitched the first game Saturday and she seemed to still have some problems with not throwing enough strikes, this is what hurt her so bad last year. She pitched again Sunday and looked much better with her ball/strike ratio. Sewell is wearing a brace on her knee and I'm not sure how much action she will see.

The bright spot though was seeing the new faces and how well they played. I think Bama will be a better hitting team this year. For all of you folks that were tired of seeing Kayla Braud slap hit all of the time, there may be a change coming there. She was batting third Saturday and never once attempted the slap hit, but she did line one over the right field fence for a grand slam homer. All of the newcomers seem to swing a good bat and with good power.

The bench strength should be better this year, Murph is doing a lot of experimentation with the players on defense and I think Bama will be better there as well. The defense was the weak link in their chain last year.

They will play again this Sunday and I'm looking looking forward to seeing them back in action after all of the positives this past weekend. RTR!!

[pmull]

I attended the games this weekend and it seems that Patrick Murphy has done what a couple of other successful coaches at Bama has done, he reloaded his team. They lost some very good players to graduation this year, but this recruiting class looks to be something special.

JTrain and Jury did the pitching and nothing has changed with JTrain. Jury pitched the first game Saturday and she seemed to still have some problems with not throwing enough strikes, this is what hurt her so bad last year. She pitched again Sunday and looked much better with her ball/strike ratio. Sewell is wearing a brace on her knee and I'm not sure how much action she will see.

The bright spot though was seeing the new faces and how well they played. I think Bama will be a better hitting team this year. For all of you folks that were tired of seeing Kayla Braud slap hit all of the time, there may be a change coming there. She was batting third Saturday and never once attempted the slap hit, but she did line one over the right field fence for a grand slam homer. All of the newcomers seem to swing a good bat and with good power.

The bench strength should be better this year, Murph is doing a lot of experimentation with the players on defense and I think Bama will be better there as well. The defense was the weak link in their chain last year.

They will play again this Sunday and I'm looking looking forward to seeing them back in action after all of the positives this past weekend. RTR!!

A couple of questions Jamos:
1. You said in several places we would be better than last year. Do you see any areas where we will not be as good as last year?
2. Kayla Braud hitting third. Who was leading off?
3. Who is the starting catcher?

[Jamos]

1- I think Reilly Bochia will be missed at first base most. She was a magnet with her glove and was probably the smartest player on the team softball wise.

2- Andrea Hawkins has a good shot at the leadoff spot. She is a slap hitter with blazing speed, recruited out of Texas. Murph compares her to Brittany Rogers. Someone at the game said that it's hard to believe that Kayla Braud could be the third fastest player on the team. Kemia Davis is the third of the speed merchants.

3- The starting catcher will probably be Molly Fichtner. She is a college transfer from Texas. She played in a tournament here two years ago and hit two homers, not sure if either was hit off of Kelsi Dunne. She had 3 hits in the first game Saturday. Chaunsey Bell will be the other catcher, she swings a good bat as well.

4- I was impressed with the bat of Leona Laefaelw, California girl, and plase don't ask me how to pronounce her last name. I think they are calling her O. She's a stocky player and not much footspeed, but she swings a heavy bat.

[pmull]

Thanks Jamos. E-cred for the info.  It is going to be a totally different look with all those seniors from last year gone.

Let us know how they look this weekend.

[Leewillie]

Thanks Jamos

[2Stater]

Great stuff, J. Looks like a lot to look forward to with the softball team again this year.

[pmull]

I went to RollTide.com looking for box scores mainly to see who is playing and what the batting order looks like. They do not have box scores for fall games or either I just could not find them.

I did find another article from last weekends games. What got my attention was the pitching by Jury and Traina. Jury struck out 20 batters (only 21 outs in a game) and Traina pitched a no-hitter. WOW!

In game one Jury, a native of Anderson, S.C., gave a dominant performance out of the circle recording all but one out by way of the strikeout. Jury's 20 strikeouts would have been good enough to break the single-game school record of 18 held by current pitching coach Stephanie VanBrakle, however fall records are not counted officially.

Traina picked up where Jury left off, recording eight strikeouts of her own and no-hitting the Trojans.

Click here for link

[Jamos]

I went to RollTide.com looking for box scores mainly to see who is playing and what the batting order looks like. They do not have box scores for fall games or either I just could not find them.

I did find another article from last weekends games. What got my attention was the pitching by Jury and Traina. Jury struck out 20 batters (only 21 outs in a game) and Traina pitched a no-hitter. WOW!

In game one Jury, a native of Anderson, S.C., gave a dominant performance out of the circle recording all but one out by way of the strikeout. Jury's 20 strikeouts would have been good enough to break the single-game school record of 18 held by current pitching coach Stephanie VanBrakle, however fall records are not counted officially.

Traina picked up where Jury left off, recording eight strikeouts of her own and no-hitting the Trojans.

Click here for link

Don't let Jury's numbers get you too excited, Anderson isn't that much of a competition. In Saturday's game, Jury threw a lot of pitches and Northwestern State is a much better team than Anderson. In watching Jury pitch, I think she is looking at the batter when she pitches rather than the catchers mitt and that is a no-no, that is a mental thing. She has good speed on the ball, but her pitches are coming in without that much movement and the good hitters will give her trouble. She sttempted to throw her newly found change up but had very little control of it. At least she is trying to develop one and that is a plus for her. She has a good pitching coach now and hopefully Stephanie will have her ready by this spring.

[Jamos]

Today Bama hosted Tennessee State University in a double header and it was all Bama in the first game. I was going to stay for both games but a cold 20 mph Northwest wind changed my mind. The first game was called after 4 innings with Bama leading 19-0.

Leslie Jury pitched and it was the best that I have seen her pitch. I didn't have a jugs gun but I'm certain her speed was at 70 mph and did not give up a hit.  She had excellent control and  was moving the ball around the plate much better than she has been doing. She was working on her change up some and it was looking better as well but it still needs a little more work. Tennessee State is no Oklahoma but they were swinging the bat and it gave Jury something to work with. She did not give up a hit but she only pitched 4 innings.

Bama's bats were red hot with Haylie McCleney, freshman from Montimer Jordan, stealing the show. She had 4 hits and one of them was a towering home run that hit just under the clock on the scoreboard. Kayla Braud had another line drive homer today to right center and she has looked very impressive swinging the bat rather than slap hitting. Kayla Hunt homered as well.

Molly Fichtner seems to be solid behind the plate and if Jury can continue to improve, by next spring Bama should be solid with the pitching and catching issue.

[Leewillie]

Jamos, thanks for the update.

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